5 Internet of Things Applications You Never Considered

5 Internet of Things Applications You Never Considered

by Will Darbyshire

The Internet of Things is a playground for creativity, and for a few years now, it has been moulded and remoulded like playdough to satisfy the vision of each entrepreneur. While some companies are thinking about ways in which IoT can be genuinely useful to the population, there are others who seem to have decided to see how far the technology can be pushed. It is these companies I’d like to focus on for this article; the people who are bringing us Internet of Things applications and devices that you would have never thought could exist. Some of them will make you ask, why? Just why? Some will make you ponder the purpose humanity, and then some will be, actually, that’s not a bad idea.

1. The Vibrating Football Shirt

We’re not talking about our version of football, nor the American way. We’re talking, of course, about Aussie Rules Football. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen it, it’s pretty weird, but it’s big news Down Under, so much so that We;eX has created the Alert Shirt.

The Alert Shirt lets you ‘feel’ the experience of football, not just observe it. Whenever your favourite player gets tackled during the match, your shirt will vibrate accordingly. Now you can share your hero’s pain.

Luckily for us, such has the success of The Alert Shirt been, they have now introduced ‘European Football’ garments. Great news if you want to experience ‘the fourth dimension of fandom’.

2. Toothbrush

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of spitting all of my oral data down the sink when brushing my teeth. So I’m delighted to be able to introduce you to the smart toothbrush.

This device from Oral-B is the only way to ‘brush like your dentist recommends’. By connecting to the Oral-B app, the brush uses facial recognition technology, for some reason, to guide you towards the perfect brush, ‘zone-by-zone’. And because, when it comes to brushing, pressure is everything, the toothbrush will alert you if you’re being too soft or too rough.

3. Egg Tray

If you’re at the supermarket and can’t remember if you need to buy eggs, this Quirky Egg Minder tells you exactly how many you’ve got at home.

With sensors in each ‘cup’, the tray connects to a partnering app to give live updates on your egg ownership, wherever you are in the world. It also tells you how far off the expiration dates are. Sadly, reviews suggest that if often offers incorrect egg counts, and people have complained that the expiration date has to be manually set, leaving a lot of room for error.

4. Smart Toast

Griffin has built an IoT connected toaster so that you can have the perfect slice, every time. The accompanying app lets you set the type of bread you’re using and how toasted you’d like your toast to be. You can then save the toasting profile for that particular type of bread and return to it whenever you need.

If you have a smart mirror, you can set your bread toasting and then head off to beautify yourself for another day at work. When the toast is ready, an alert will pop up on your mirror. If you want, you can activate a 30-second re-heat as you make the long walk from the bathroom to the kitchen.

5. Window Blinds

MySmartBlindshas created. Not only can you control how open or closed they are, directly from your phone, they are also solar powered and capable of tracking the path of the sun. As such, they can open and close with the natural light.

They claim to save you money on your energy bills, born out of the assumption that people would rather stick the lights on that go through the trouble of opening the blinds, especially those that are hard to reach. So, if you’re lazy, these might be for you.

I did warn you. Some of these are a bit weird. But what do you think? What are the best and worst in our list – and do you know of any more Internet of Things applications that go beyond the usual? Let us know in the Comments section below, or hit us up with a tweet@TDMB_Tech!